The Little Magic Left
by mariaty
Summary: Different ending: Harry has won the final battle against Voldemort, but not without a price. Ten years later, he returns to Hogwarts, shaken and scarred. Will he find the little magic still left? Oneshot.


disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

**The Little Magic Left**

_By Mariaty_

She was so beautiful.

Her fierce red hair was tied up in a beautiful long braid. She was wearing an elegant white wedding dress and was smiling so widely, her eyes shinning with excitement. In her left hand she was holding a bouquet of enchanted flowers; with the other hand she was holding… him.

Why did she have to hold hands with him? That handsome blond arour from the Ministry of Magic Percy introduced her to seven months ago? Why did they decide to get married so quickly? Why did Ginny Weasley pick _him_?

Ginny started walking, still guided by the arour, towards the cheering crowd. The crowd silenced at once. Slowly, Ginny released the flowers, which instantly grew golden wings and started hovering above everyone's heads. After a while the flowers' wings disappeared, and they fell into the hands of a beautiful girl in her late teens with silvery blond hair. The crowd burst into cheers. Bill was looking fondly at Fleur, who was hugging her sister, the girl with silvery blond hair identical to hers. Charlie was trying to control the big red dragon he brought. Fred and George were clapping the hardest. Arthur and Percy were hugging each other and Molly was crying with joy.

Everyone was happy.

When Charlie finally managed to control the dragon, Ginny and the arour climbed on him. Instantly, the dragon opened his massive red wings and started flapping them wildly. The dragon rose from the ground and started flying away, with a JUST MARRIED sign hanging from his tail. Whoever had a broomstick tried to catch up to them, and everyone else just run after them, waving. Soon the dragon was only a small red dot in the sky. The clearing was slowly being deserted, people leaving in pairs or in groups, chattering.

Soon all the guests have left and Harry Potter was sitting there, invisible and alone, on the deserted grounds of Hogwarts.

He wasn't invited to the wedding. Of course, after the final fight with Voldemort, no one wanted to even look at him. He was lonely and all he had left were the precious memories from his days at Hogwarts. With a flick of his wand Harry became visible again, though it didn't matter because no one was there anymore. The once outstanding castle of Hogwarts was now deserted and old looking—its walls had cracks in them, there were spiders everywhere and all the magic was drained away.

Harry's feet moved on their own accord. He found himself walking towards the forest, to where Hagrid's cabin was. He knocked on the door. Harry half expected to hear Fang barking and Hagrid's deep loud voice, but nothing came. It was then that he then he remembered that Hagrid went to live in the Mountains. Harry sighed, and opened the door. A loud creaking sound echoed in the room as Harry opened the door and went in.

The cabin looked exactly as Harry remembered it, small and cozy. Yet Harry couldn't deny the fact that the cabin looked so lifeless without the dangerous monsters Hagrid usually kept. He walked around the room, observing all the things that didn't change, until he saw a note floating about two inches above the chair. Harry, with shaking hands, unfolded the note.

_**Dear Harry,**_

_**After the train left I noticed you forgot**_

_**the invisibility cloak. I knew it wouldn't**_

_**be safe to leave the cloak where anybody**_

_**could take it so I put it here because**_

_**I knew you would come looking for me in**_

_**my cabin when I didn't show up at Hogwarts.**_

_**I want you to know that I'm working for**_

_**the order—and I want you to concentrate**_

_**the best you can on your NEWTS**_

_**Hagrid**_

Harry put his hand on where the note was floating. There, indeed, was his father's old cloak—the one Dumbledore gave Harry on his first year. The thought of Dumbledore, the great wizard, made Harry shake even more than he usually shook. Harry crumpled the note and placed it in his pocket. With another long sigh he opened the door and walked out of the cabin, taking the invisibility cloak with him.

Harry fingered the ten year-old note in his pocket. Hagrid had been so naive. Had he really believe that parents would send their children to Hogwarts after what happened to Dumbledore? Did Hagrid really believe that even if Hogwarts hadn't been closed down, Harry would rather go learn than chase Voldemort?

Harry walked back to the castle. The door was wide open, as though it was inviting him to come in. Harry walked in, surprised to see how much has changed.

The great hall was no longer great—the enchantments that were put on the wall were now gone. The walls now looked white and plain. All the portraits and different passageways were gone. There was no magic left in Hogwarts.

Harry walked up to Gryffindor Tower, or at least what used to be the Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady was gone ant all that was left was her frame. Needing no password, Harry pushed the frame and went in.

The common room never looked so deserted. Harry sat down on one of the old chairs. Dust filled the air as Harry sat down, but he didn't care. Nothing mattered now—he had nothing left. He had nothing to feel happy about.

And then he noticed him. He was sitting in the corner, his head in his lap. Harry knew instantly who he was—

"Ron," he breathed. Ron looked up. He, unlike so many others, didn't even flinch when he saw Harry's scared face. They stared at each other, not saying a word until Harry broke the silence.

"You weren't at the wedding," he said. There was another long minute of silence.

"I-I couldn't." Ron said, his eyes filled with sorrow. "The wedding, here… Every time I think of it I remember –" he broke off.

"I know," Harry said.

"Harry," Ron said, his eyes burning holes in his heart, "_I_ _miss her_."

For a few moments Harry was speechless.

"I'm so sorry. It's my fault she died," He finally said. "Because of me you came to fight him."

"No it isn't," Ron said. "She died to save me, I should've died."

Again Harry had nothing to say.

"When we came to Hogwarts for the wedding," Ron continued, "I couldn't stop thinking about her. She loved Hogwarts—remember how she cried when she heard it was closed down?"

Harry nodded.

"She was such a good student…"

Tears were now falling out of Ron's eyes. Harry guessed, judging by the dampness of his cheeks, that he was crying, too.

Without thinking Harry pulled a chair over and sat next to Ron.

"Look what I found," Harry said. "It's the cloak. We thought it was gone for good, remember?"

With shaking hands he pulled out the note from Hagrid and tried to hand it over to Ron—but couldn't get a grip on it and it slid out of his hand. Ron said nothing, but picked up the note and read. The expression on his face didn't change.

"I hate it," Harry said suddenly. "I hate shaking all the time. They're _afraid _of me. I sacrificed everything – and they won't even look at my face. I hate when everyone looks at me like I'm some sort of monster"

"I don't," said Ron. Those two words made Harry's heart leap. All the years of friendship with Ron were worth this moment—just to hear those two words. He looked at Ron and a sudden idea flew into his mind.

"Here," Harry said and pulled out the invisibility cloak. "We could walk in the invisibility cloak, together. Like the old days."

Ron stared back at Harry and nodded. He didn't say that there was no point in using the cloak because it would now show their knees, and he didn't say that no one was there to see them anyways. He just nodded. Harry threw the cloak over him, and the two old friends started walking out of the Hogwarts castle.

And then, for the first time since he came back to Hogwarts, Harry could feel the little magic that was still left.

**Hmm… So this is something I wrote about two and a half years ago, before DH came out. I was looking through my old stuff and came across this, and was surprised to see that it wasn't so bad… Anyways, now that I've started writing for FF again I decided to put it on. I think it's kinda cute.. What do you think? :)**


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